Summary: Under the Clean Air Act, EPA is required to review, and, if warranted by advances in public health science, revise the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for pollutants harmful to public health and the environment, including harmful particulate matter commonly referred to as “soot pollution.” In 2006, EPA issued revised standards, which were challenged by a coalition of states as being lax and adopted against the advice of EPA’s own air pollution experts. In 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that EPA had not justified its 2006 standards and remanded to the agency. In response, EPA stated it would revise the soot pollution standards by October 17, 2011, as part of the next statutorily mandated 5-year review. However, that deadline passed without EPA even proposing revised soot standards.

A coalition of 11 states brought suit to require EPA to update its soot pollution standards under. The suit was consolidated with American Lung Association v. EPA, a similar suit also brought under the Clean Air Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7409(d)(1). The parties reached a settlement which required EPA to publish a notice of final rulemaking by December 14, 2012. EPA published the final rule on January 15, 2013.

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